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- Jan 3, 2014
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get him checked to make sure there is no fever or infection. Post op infections can be very dangerous. Loss of appetite can be a sign of a myriad of things, but first eliminate infection from the list.
get him checked before Saturday to make sure there is no fever or infection. Post op infections can be very dangerous. Loss of appetite can be a sign of a myriad of things, but first eliminate infection from the list.Can anyone tell me how their cat behaved over the week or so after the op please?
He's mainly in the cage but we do let him out in the evenings. He hops about a bit but generally feels sorry for himself. He's eaten a lot - up until last night anyway - and is drinking and going to the toilet.
Since last night he doesn't seem interested in eating though. We have a follow up appointment at the vets on Saturday morning... Wondering whether to get an earlier one now?
Ok, my opinion based on obsessively reading and researching the condition, talking to multiple vets, and going through the surgeries with my cat is that it does NOT get better and only gets worse. I waited to see if my cat might get better with rest and diet and she did not. She needed the surgery and now she's great. It's traumatic, expensive, and hard but 100% worth it. You can rarely tell if a cat is in pain, but not being able to walk properly is a good indication.Hi all, rather than start a new thread I thought posting here would be a better idea as lots of you seem to have a good amount of experience with this issue!
My now 1 year old kitten was diagnosed with luxating patellas in both legs at stage 4 last Autumn. The advice from the vet was to wait until she was about 15 months old to see if it had improved or if she'd grown out of it. That age is approaching and she definitely hasn't grown out of it but her symptoms seem slightly different to others here so I'm wondering if anyone had any extra advice on what to do next.
Both her knees pop out and back in every step she takes, when we pick her etc but she doesn't seem in any pain at all. She walks strangely because of it but she's never limped and it's never stopped her from jumping/running around like a normal kitten.
Reading all the stories about healing times etc, I'm just not sure how she'd deal with that. We've already been advised not to let her out alone, so she has a few walks on her lead round the garden everyday but she's desperate to go out, she's a super active kitten and keeping her rested after her spaying was hard enough!
I'm just curious as to what others think of her situation given that she doesn't appear to be hindered by it (apart from not being allowed her full freedom)/in any pain? Of course I'll be taking her back to the vet for the check up but like I said, just curious to know what others think.
Thank you in advance!
Yeah I really don't think she's going to get any better on her own. If anything the popping seems to be even more obvious now. Luckily she has good insurance cover and I'm going to be done with university in the next few weeks so I'll have more time to look after her if we decide to go ahead. It's so hard making these big decisions for your babies but it breaks my heart to see her little legs popping in and out constantlyOk, my opinion based on obsessively reading and researching the condition, talking to multiple vets, and going through the surgeries with my cat is that it does NOT get better and only gets worse. I waited to see if my cat might get better with rest and diet and she did not. She needed the surgery and now she's great. It's traumatic, expensive, and hard but 100% worth it. You can rarely tell if a cat is in pain, but not being able to walk properly is a good indication.
With or without the surgery, I strongly recommend that you never "allow her full freedom." Indoor only cats have significantly longer lifespans than indoor/outdoor cats. An adopted feral may have the skills to take care of herself outside, certainly my Sweet Thing did, but the typical house cat doesn't. They believe that they're invisible in the dark and therefore safe from cars, they think of coyotes as just another dog (and any self-respecting cat knows that it can take a dog in a fair fight, and is generally correct in that assessment), they think of rabbits as prey, with no understanding of the amount of power in those hind legs, and they have no real concept of human evil, not to mention the hazards of pesticide on people's lawns and poisonous plants they can encounter. I've lost a cat to coyotes, and I've run over a dark colored cat at night. Both events were extremely traumatic. Please keep your kitten safe.Reading all the stories about healing times etc, I'm just not sure how she'd deal with that. We've already been advised not to let her out alone, so she has a few walks on her lead round the garden everyday but she's desperate to go out, she's a super active kitten and keeping her rested after her spaying was hard enough!
I'm just curious as to what others think of her situation given that she doesn't appear to be hindered by it (apart from not being allowed her full freedom)/in any pain? Of course I'll be taking her back to the vet for the check up but like I said, just curious to know what others think.
Thank you in advance!
Go to YouTube and search on "videos for cats" and "music for cats." The former will get you a lot of entertaining stuff with squirrels and birds and such; the latter will get you soothing music to help a cat sleep (I don't know how effectively). And most browsers should have some sort of add-on available to let you download YouTube videos. Once you've downloaded you can run it in your media player, set to repeat. Also, if you download more than one you can probably make a playlist and tell your media player to repeat all, and to choose the next video randomly. If it begins with an ad, don't worry; the ads don't download with the video.Please send prayers and well wishes to our kitty, Milly! Nearly a week ago, she had surgery on her right knee (for luxating patella). "Excisional trochleoplasty, partial lateral joint capsulectomy, narrowing of patella, and medial joint capsule imbrication." Whew!
She's still weak in the leg, understandably, but she seems to be doing well. However, she is getting bored in her crate! We have a long road ahead of us, to keep her calm and entertained.
She's starting to go bananas, she's so used to having the run of the house.
For anyone going through this, I recommend these soft "crates", they work very well, esp. if your cat stresses out when confined in metal, barred cages-
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3261+28595+22277&pcatid=22277
I figured out a way to attach two "octagon pods" together using velcro at the junctures for the vertical doorways, so she has two pods stuck together as her "prison" for 8 weeks. (We got the medium-sized soft octagon crates -- even if you just get one, these are big enough for the appropriate low-sided litter box, a small bed, and some area for food dish, etc). We are getting an additional small-sized one to have it be the "travel pod", so we can put her in it throughout the day and situate it at her various favorite windows and sleeping areas around the apartment to keep her feeling happier.
She's only 16 mos old & such an energetic girl... if anyone has advice on how to progress her activity level as the weeks wear on, let me know of your thoughts. She'll get her stitches out in two weeks, if all goes well. We have an informational meeting with a vet physical therapist that same day, so we'll also have a better idea how to proceed.
steel panther i'm praying you're still active on this site. my lily now has injured both legs and has luxated patellas. i am wondering where in canada you are that your vet prices were that lowThanks for the reply. $500 I can live with, considering I've heard upwards of $1200. Unfortunately I live in Canada and it'll probably cost more than the $500. I hate seeing him like this and gotta trust the vet. I just came home again and he came out from under the couch just fine and played with his girlfriend, went to get up and there was the problem again. Now, technically, he does have the problem in both knees, but his right one is significantly better than the right. I'm probably going to have to get him diet food as he can't be as active as he wants to be, which is going to be tough considering they're both free fed from the same bowl. She's a very lean cat and does not need diet food at all.